Tiny Victories

We have TWO victories this week. The first is from Danielle, who called the Tiny Victory Hotline to tell us that one of her buttons fell off, and she…sewed it back on. But not, like, months later. The amount of time that passed from the moment her button fell off to when she sewed it back on was less than a week, and we’re very proud of her!

Annabelle is obsessed with color. And ever since she watched Amanda Gorman deliver her inaugural poem to more than thirty million viewers, she sees Illuminating everywhere! Illuminating is one of the Pantone Colors of the Year for 2021, which is something you would know if you were an Eisemaniac® (a Leatrice Eisman super fan), like Annebelle is. Color is important. Let’s appreciate its power!

When Laura House and her older brother inherit their grandfather’s coin collection, it falls on her to find out if they're millionaires or not because big brother is safeguarding the Internet and is simply too busy. Will Laura be able to take on the daunting responsibility of researching each coin’s value? Or will she wind up selling the collection for $200, only to see it appraised for $3,000,000 on an episode of Antiques Roadshow? To find out, you'll have to join us as we dive into the weird and wondrous world of numismatics.

One silver lining of the pandemic is that people who might otherwise be too busy to try new things, now find themselves with lots of free time. Millions of quarantining people took up gardening, or baking bread, while others founded secular churches. Or rather, Annabelle founded one: The Church of Ukulele.

We all strive to be civilized human beings, and if it weren’t for our neighbors, it wouldn’t be so challenging. This week, we’ve got three tales of difficult neighbors who redeemed themselves. Joanna from the Silverlake called the Tiny Victory Hotline to tell us about their disdain for her beloved chickens. Laura describes trying to kill her former landlady (with kindness) over ridiculous fees, and Annabelle’s neighbor couldn’t stand that her kid was always hitting baseballs over the fence…and into his yard. So what did each of them do to win over their persnickety neighbors? And what law did politicians in France pass to keep the peace among neighbors? Listen and find out!

Fun Fact: There were food courts in 79 AD! Recently, archeologists unearthed a thermopolium in Pompeii, preserved in volcanic ash. In this week’s episode, @LAGurwitch and @ImLauraHouse travel back in time to meet at the intersection of Silver Wedding and Street of Balconies in ancient Pompeii to snack as ancient Romans did. And one of the hosts admits to noshing on peanuts and parsley as a snack. Listen to find out which one: Laura or Annabelle?

This week, Joanna from St. Louis calls into the Tiny Victory Hotline to tell us about a tiny victory she found in the immediate aftermath of a harrowing car accident, and another caller found herself in need of help after getting stuck in the snow in Utah. This episode is a good reminder that no matter how shaken your faith in humanity might be, things might not be as dire as you think. Listen to us this week if you need reminding that there is such a thing as the kindness of strangers.

This week Annabelle celebrates the art–or lack thereof–of puttering. What is a “putter”, you’re not really asking? For Annabelle, a putter has to meet a set of criteria:

You can’t earn money doing it

You must suck at the activity

The world will never reward you for it

There can’t be a measurable goal

Our first episode of 2021 will inspire you. If you find New Year’s Resolutions pointless and doomed to fail, Annabelle and Laura share a tinier approach to kicking the year off. Listener Heather Gold tells us how she saved a fortune on fixing her older-model Mercedes, and hopes her tiny victory might save our listeners a trip to the mechanic and a hit to the wallet. And finally, last week Annabelle revealed that the sad song that makes her happy is Horrible Things by playwright Young Jean Lee. This week, playwright Young Jean Lee calls the TV hotline to respond.

If you read Annabelle’s op-ed in the New York Times about being diagnosed with lung cancer, you might be able to infer this year has been a bit much. So why would a friend recommend Annabelle watch the play We’re Gonna Die by Young Jean Lee, in which the playwright talks about her father dying…of lung cancer?